BENGALURU: Canadian Natural Resources Ltd reported a near seven-fold rise in first-quarter profit from the fourth on Thursday, driven by higher oil prices as a nascent global economic recovery boosted demand.

Rising oil prices and coronavirus vaccine rollouts have given Canadian crude producers some respite after a torrid 2020, and acted as an incentive to ramp up output as the provincial government of Alberta lifted mandatory production cuts.

The company, which operates in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, northeastern British Columbia and Saskatchewan, produced 1.25 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the quarter, compared to 1.2 million boepd in the fourth.

Canadian Natural said average realized prices for crude jumped nearly 30% to C$52.68 per barrel.

“As the global vaccine distribution increases and crude oil demand recovers, especially in the United States, we are seeing improved commodity pricing”, Canadian Natural said.

On an adjusted basis, the company posted a profit of C$1.22 billion ($995.43 million), or C$1.03 per share, in the quarter ended March 31, compared with C$176 million, or 15 Canadian cents, from the prior three-month period.